21. I expect your best tea by the time I reach you, SIMOOON.

As one might expect, one person, in particular, has ears everywhere, and it didn't take long before Ajax Bennett, the mage knight from a few chapters earlier, visited Master Brian.

There they sat in his office as the head maid, Deline (from chapter 12), poured tea into their cups.

Silence reigned between the two, and only after picking up his porcelain cup did Master Brian break the silence with a question, "It has been a long time since we last saw each other. I remember when you were still a beginner mage."

A chuckle escaped from Ajax's mouth before he casually commented, "Right. It has been a long time since we met in private." But his demeanor immediately turned serious.

Upon seeing the change in Ajax's demeanor, Master Brian sighed merely.

"Brat, why do you always visit me whenever something bad happens? Anyway, what made you come here?"

"I'm sorry for doing my job, Master Brian, ehe. To keep it short, Luz ended up in a confrontation between the guards and a vendor today, resulting in the death of one. Therefore I believe it would be wiser to report it to you," explained Ajax while taking out a small leather booklet.

"I see… That brat probably used magic, right?" sighed Master Brian calmly as one could see his hand tremble slightly in rage.

After noticing how Master Brian was a seething volcano ready to burst, Ajax, immediately gulped down his hot tea before leaving. "You caught a good seedling. Also, you owe me some more tea as I saved his ass and even gifted him the bird he wanted, ehe."

"Don't worry. I won't forget to show my gratitude," answered Master Brian while slowly opening the booklet.

After reading through the reports, Master Brian slowly stood up from his chair, making his way toward Liv's workroom as he had a few questions.

The girl was drooling on her desk while a few magic hands still crocheted a few things in the air.

Her big ass hat buried her shoulder's beneath it so that one couldn't see her embarrassing face as she muttered in her sleep, "you belong to me… your older sister, hehehe. Who is the best? Exactly! I am the best."

After reaching her door, Master Brian didn't even bother to knock and immediately kicked the door, shouting enraged, "LIV. HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE!?

Screeching, Liv jumped 10 meters high in shock, hitting her head against the ceiling before crashing back to the ground.

Her Master, on the other hand, merely looked around, wondering where Luz was hiding.

After crashing down, Liv immediately shouted, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY GODDAMN ROOM!? EVEN IF YOU ARE MY MASTER, THAT STILL DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DISTURB MY PRIVACY. YOU KNOW, WHAT IF I WAS CHANGING MY CLOTHES OR…"

Before she could continue with her outburst, Master Brian cut her short, telling her, "I don't really care about that. Remember, you little piece of shit is still living in my goddamn mansion at age 23. By the way, where the hell is Luz? AND WHY DID YOU SEND HIM ALONE INTO THE CITY!?"

"Don't worry about Luz. He will be fine, ehe," commented Liv while yawning loudly. With each word she whispered, her voice became softer.

Master Brian slowly touched the young maiden's shoulder and repeated his question with a stern face.

"Gramps… You know teenagers these days tend to go outside and so," hastily replied the elf with a red face while not daring to look into her Master's eyes.

After seeing how her Master didn't buy her bullshit excuse, she merely whispered, "I fucked up."

The man merely nodded in agreement, and she asked quietly, "Promise me that you won't be angry with me."

Sighing, with fingers crossed behind his back, Master Brian replied, "Fine. I won't be angry with you. I promise."

After taking a deep breath, Liv stated, "After finding out that he used a spell and worsened the condition of his mana core, I immediately sent him to Master Simon to get it fixed."

Master Brian's expression immediately changed from stern to horrified as he could guess exactly why Luz had not yet returned. His grip on her shoulder tightened, and he whispered, with grinding teeth: "Liv…What happens if you bring a desperate man who wants to retain his talent with any means necessary to the DEVIL, HIMSELF!?"

Only now did Liv realize how foolish her action really was. Instead of helping the young man, she threw him into the mouth of the dragon himself.

"I-I-I'm so-sor-ry," she stuttered, aggravated while grabbing her hair while looking into her Master's eyes with tear-blurred eyes.

However, Brian didn't buy that faked expression and remarked coldly while gently touching her chin, "Liv. You, my daughter, will be taking responsibility for whatever happens to Luz."

Liv gulped, and Brian grabbed her by the hip before teleporting them to Master Simon's doorstep, where he unleashed his entire presence.

Master Simon's mage tower trembled due to the action, and one could hear a mage curse loudly, "JODOC, YOU STUPID BIRD. WE TRULY FUCKED UP THIS TIME. I SHOULDN'T HAVE LISTENED TO YOU. I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE PARROT INSTEAD OF AN EAGLE."

While Master Simon was losing his goddamn mind, Master Brian slowly stepped inside.

Each of his steps echoed loudly throughout the tower, sending trembles through the building. Liv got carried under his arm by the man, and she accepted her fate without any fight. Her face was ashen with fright, and time moved at a snail's pace as Master Brian slowly climbed the tower.

Master Brian merely commented coldly, "I expect your best tea by the time I reach you, SIMOOON."

Simon gulped and hastily teleported himself to his herb garden, grabbing a few dried tea leaves before reappearing in the kitchen. Once there, he immediately prepared the tea, using magic to speed up the process.

After passing by Master Simon, Brian unleashed his aura another time, causing cracks to form on the walls and forcing the latter onto his knees before continuing to move up.

Master Simon merely heard a cold voice state, "I expect you in your laboratory before I reach it."

Not even a minute later, Master Simon sat in his laboratory with three teacups filled with the finest tea he had. His pet bore its talon deep into his shoulder as if that could calm him. At that moment, even his annoying eagle had lost its former proud look, and the duo was trembling in anticipation.

Finally, the door opened, and Brian slowly moved towards them while unleashing carnage as each of his steps broke down the tiles below while still carrying Liv on her hip. The latter waved at them with a forced smile while sharing the same horrified expression as the mage pet duo.

Before Brian could even say something, Simon hastily stated, "I can explain what's going on."

However, Master Brian ignored the former and simply gripped his teacup before drinking it in one go. Only then did he open his mouth. "Simon. Is Luz alive, and what have you done with him?"

"Well, he's alive. To keep it short, he pestered me for hours to let him join my magical experiment, and I gave in," sighed Simon as he held his cup in a tremble.

"I know. But tell me more about this magical experiment you were talking about. Also, I expect all the measurements data from it," stated Brian coldly before letting Liv go, who dropped to the ground.

"Argh," she whispered before standing up and taking a seat.

"So. We are currently trying to force a symbiosis between Luz and a parasite. I can't really say how successful this experiment will be since we haven't been able to reproduce a successful animal experiment yet," Simon stammered as he felt Brian's furious gaze bore into his soul.

Brian slowly put his cup back while attempting to calm himself. "Simon… Did I get it correctly that you skipped the animal experimentation stage and jumped right into human experimentation without any prior results?"

"Yes…" stammered Simon as he felt the air around him tremble. Before Brian could say anything, he quickly added, "But I only did it because he wanted it."

"SIMON, YOU FUCKING MORON. I DON'T CARE IF HE WANTED IT OR NOT. YOU IDIOT LET A CHILD DECIDE WHO WAS WAY TOO MUCH INFLUENCED BY THE SUDDEN GRIEF. DO YOU THINK I'M TOO STUPID TO REALIZE THAT YOU TWO PREYED ON A MORON!?" shouted Brian in fury while gripping the collar of Simon's coat.

"I'll buy him from you," stammered Simon in fear as Brian raised the latter's body into the air.

However, the latter simply chuckled before stating, enraged, "It's not about the money."

"Then what is it about?" Simon stammered in fright while getting lifted from the ground.

"It's about your respect for human life and me. I don't remember giving you any permission to do experiments on my employees. ESPECIALLY ON A GODDAMN EXPERIMENT WHOSE SUCCESS RATE WE DON'T EVEN KNOW OF," roared Brian loudly while lifting Simon up so that the two could talk at eye level.

Simon merely gulped and suppressed his anger. That was Simon's first time he got so humiliated in his life by a fellow mage on his level. Unfortunally, he could only grind his teeth as the gap between the two was worlds apart.

Master Brian continued threatening Simon. "You'll pay a hundredfold if Luz wakes up with mental injuries and ten thousand times if he dies during the experiment."

"Isn't the price too high for a simple employee?" Simon stammered.

The answer merely angered Master Brian even more. "You're not paying the value of the employee. You're paying the price for not asking my permission about experimenting on an unstable employee of mine. By the way, both you and Liv, will pay a hundred times Luz's daily salary for every day he remains unconscious. I hope the price was worth it for you, Simon."

After stating that, Master Brian left the two alone in the tower.